West Bromwich Albion 3 - Liverpool 0

Summary:

Albion started the new season with all guns blazing as Liverpool were humiliated at the Hawthorns. Steve Clarke's first game in charge saw him employ two holding midfielders in Youssouf Mulumbu and Claudio Yacob, with James Morrison linking them to a front three of Zoltan Gera, Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie, and the home side started with confidence, Yacob especially looking composed and distributing the ball with ease in his first Premiership game.

Shortly before half time, Gera marked his return from injury with an unstoppable strike from over 20 yards following a headed clearance from a corner, and after a brief Liverpool fightback following the break, Long was bundled over to win a penalty with Daniel Agger receiving a straight red card for the challenge. However, his strike from the spot was weak and easily saved by Pepe Reina. Luckily, a few minutes Martin Skrtel gave Albion another chance from the spot when Long was bundled over again and this time Odemwingie made no mistake to double Albion's lead.

Albion then brought on season-long loan signing Romelu Lukaku, and the powerful youngster caused Liverpool's defence no end of problems, brushing Jamie Carragher to the floor with ease and setting up Morrison for a simple finish, only to see him blaze his shot over the bar. It was only a temporary respite for the visitors as minutes later Liam Ridgewell crossed and Lukaku headed Albion's third in at the far post.

All in all, a great start to the season and a superb debut for Yacob, who was named Man of the Match; Albion only miss out on topping the first table thanks to five-nil victories for Fulham and Swansea. New Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers may have blamed referee Phil Dowd for some poor decisions, but the result is hardly going to endear him to the Anfield faithful.

oshawabaggie:

A dream start for Clarke and the lads. My post after the Arsenal game in May was somewhat pessimistic. I felt JP would need to pull some rabbits out of his hat in the off season. With the exception of locking up Olsson, based on todays performance, he has exceeded my expectations. Yakob looked very classy -$p I can't remember one stray pass. And Lukaku looks like a beast - well taken goal and a great set-up for Morrison. A steady Foster erased any lingering memories of Fullops nightmare. Clarke made positive substitutions, which only added to our dominance at that stage.

Gera had a superb return, capped by a stunning goal. Overall it was an impressive team performance which could have ended up 5 or 6 nil. Long's weak penalty and Morrison's glaring miss were the only disappointments, but it would be churlish to dwell on the negatives on a day when so much went well. Liverpool may not be the team of old, but they are still a severe test and by the end we were much the better team. If we can keep clear of injuries and play with this effort every week I can see a top half finish again. BOING BOING!

Philip Cole (RSABaggie):

Let me get the first match report of the season in from a watching of the match on satellite TV here in South Africa. I have real excitement for this season and I expect us to push on and improve on last season's position of 10th.

Good result for West Brom but I have to say I had a bit of a feeling beforehand that we might get this result. I think West Brom have probably made the better appointment as a manager. Despite never having been head coach, Steve Clarke has a top reputation as a coach within the game and fits straight into West Brom's system of a director of football and a head coach. As far as tactics were concerned he won the game easily, strong defence, get the ball out quickly, press Liverpool on the ball and don't give them time and space to play - it looked like Roy Hodgson MkII.

But with a far more potent attack which I suspect is going to give us Baggies fans some serious goals and entertainment this season. This is where the match was really won - Liverpool continued their game of great approach and wasted chances from last season, while we took our chances when we got them. That's how you win football matches.

The first penalty was as nailed on certain as you can get. Agger was all over the back of Long, who had both him and Skrtel beaten for pace and power all game. Straight through on a goal-scoring chance - penalty and no choice but a sending off. The second penalty was to be honest a bit soft - I've seen them both given and no given, and it was only a slight clip by Skrtel. But I would be more concerned if I was a Liverpool fan with the ease with what is supposed to be one of the best centre-back pairings in the EPL was beaten by Long on his own all game.

I would also be concerned at the way that Liverpool heads visibly dropped after the penalty. Isn't this supposed to be a new Liverpool start? The body language was not good at only 2-0 so still with something to play for and after the second penalty went in, frankly, Liverpool had no response. Not a good sign, and Rodgers didn't seem to have a Plan B to change it around beyond "Bring on Carroll to throw himself around and hope something happens". It's a mugs game predicting the season based on the first game but nevertheless I'll stand by my pre-season prediction that Liverpool are going to struggle this year ...

MARKS:

• Foster(7): Same-old same-old from reliable Ben Foster who frankly didn't have alot to deal with from Liverpool but looked totally in control when he had to make a save.
• Reid(6): A slight weak link for me today and at times his lack of pace was shown up by Johnson and Suarez in the first half. But stuck at his task and his football nouse and experience stood out with some good balls out from the back.
• McAuley(8): Solid, reliable, strong and now forms one of the stronger central defensive partnerships with ...
• Olsson(8): We really need to keep him for continuity and to build from the back. Table an offer-he-can't-refuse JP, he's worth it. I also like his complete mastery of the dark arts of defense, he knows just how much to push it and when to back off.
• Ridgewell(7): Good game from Liam with some nice ball skills, especially his neat little chip for Lukaku's goal.
• Mulumbu(8): A typical all-action hassling performance in midfield from Youssef with frankly more energy than the Liverpool midfield combined, including Gerrard, who did not look a happy bunny towards the end!
• Yacob(7): Decent enough debut without being spectacular. At times still looked to be feeling his way into the pace of the English game and so nearly got caught out a couple of times. But didn't, and grew into the game as it went on. Nice foil for Mulumbu - he does the simple things well and passes quickly and accurately. I suspect this will be a strong and growing partnership.
• Morrison(8): Great performance from a player who really pushed on and made the attacking central midfield position his own last year. Looks really confident, epitomised by his willingness to run at defenders.
• Gera(8): I love the Mighty Zoltan, as we all do. He never gives less than 110% and was a threat all game until he understandably tired. Brilliant goal that gave Reina no chance. I really hope he can stay fit and we can enjoy him for a decent length of time this season.
• Long(9-MOM): A perhaps surprising choice for MOM and his awful penalty was certainly a disappointment. But I loved his all-action performance of power and pace against Skrtel and Agger who were seriously worried by him all game. Deserved a goal for a very strong performance and looked sharper than he did for much of last season.
• Odemwingie(7): Not much of a threat to be honest and seemed to drift out of it a bit at times. I remain to be convinced that he can play as a winger. But did nothing wrong and buried that penalty beautifully under the obvious pressure of the first missed one.

SUBS:

• Lukaku(8): A testimony to the respect and contacts that Steve Clarke has that we got him here and boy have we got a player. Still obviously raw but such pace and power - like a young Drogba at times! My pre-season prediction was that he'll hit double figures for us this season, so its nice to see him off the mark. Can we keep him?
• Fortune(7): A similar performance to so many from Marco of last season, getting into some great positions and keeping the ball through his power and good footwork, only to be let down by his shooting. Always offers us a good outlet though.
• Brunt: Not on long enough to mark really but did nothing wrong.

MANAGER:

• I think we've made the best new manager appointment of the summer in the EPL. Steve Clarke is highly rated with good reason and I expect him to push us on. He looked all match like he'd got his team ready to play the way he wanted them to play while Rodgers, frankly, didn't!

Exciting times ahead to be a Baggie this season I think. Boing, Boing!!

Didcot Baggie:

I'll keep it brief as the score speaks for itself. Foster and the Defence were super-solid, we were winning the midfield battles and managed to put away only half of the gilt-edged chances we created. Lukaku impressed on his debut and seems to be a superior option to Odemwinge. Great to see Gera back and a great goal from him. Great news that the spine of the team from last season is intact and supplemented by new talent. Fingers crossed for the future - it bodes well.

Bobby Hope:

Agree with all the comments and I am impressed by Clarke - but that is no surprise. Some very good individual performances - Long, Morrison, Gera, Yac well supported by the rest. Lots of hard work behind the ball in defence and quick and dangerous on the break. Just one word or warning - and don't get me wrong beacuse I think we will do well this season and Liverpool are no mugs - BUT let's remember they had plenty of chances and a few that they would normally bury. We were also impressive when they went down to ten men. Hard to see Thomas and Dorrans getting a game - even Brunt! But that will be great for the squad/team as we genuinely have strength in depth - especially up front!! Well done boys and well done SC.

bucksjim:

Thanks to brother in law I saw yhe whole match on Sky as well as MoTD. Felt we had the rub of the ball - L's missed chances, Foster - who does not often claim crosses - dropped one on Suarez' boot. Teams are now so close that only after the first 5 matches will we really know our status. I thought man on man Liverpool were quicker to the ball and more confident in possession. We were too relaxed and could be caught out by teams scrapping using similar hit and run tactics as us. Maybe my opinion is just sour grapes from frustration in not actually being there - but I remain superstitious that my presence caused the last 2 relegations and it's a sacrifice well worth it for the sake of fellow fans...